Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 370 Criticize and discredit him! Old Zhu is brimming with confidence!

Stepping out of the main hall, Zhan Hui looked back at the still solemn and majestic palace and sighed softly, "Your Majesty, you are truly amazing!"

This time, he deliberately stirred up trouble in the court.

But Zhan Hui was also very curious about how His Majesty would resolve this situation.

He had done countless analyses before. Although he had long anticipated that Ge Song might not escape death, in his imagination, Ge Song should first be imprisoned, and then go through a complicated investigation and fierce struggle among various forces before finally losing his life.

But to everyone's surprise, His Majesty did not play by the rules at all.

In the imperial court, in front of all the civil and military officials, he decisively ordered Ge Song to be executed.

Moreover, the reasons given were so impeccable.

All the court officials knew that Ge Song's death was most likely related to his impeachment of Yang Shiqi and his opposition to the implementation of a new policy similar to the Jurchen Three Tribes in the Ming Dynasty.

Faced with the reasons given by His Majesty, they were speechless, unable to find any grounds for objection.

This seemingly simple move actually requires decisive courage; a decision must be made in an instant.

If there had been even the slightest hesitation, such as simply dismissing Ge Song or imprisoning him, the course of events would have been completely different.

I'm afraid those civil officials will now have to band together and discuss how to jointly remonstrate and save the person.

As Zhan Hui pondered this to himself, he quickened his pace.

At this moment, Wang Zuo hurriedly caught up from behind, looking slightly flustered, and asked in a low voice, "Was it your arrangement that Ge Song publicly impeached Yang Shiqi in court today?"

Zhan Hui remained calm, neither admitting nor denying, and simply replied, "I am merely fulfilling my duty as a minister of state affairs."

Wang Zuo's expression changed slightly, a hint of anxiety flashing in his eyes. He said, "Are you crazy? Don't you know you're playing with fire?"

"If you do this, you will surely anger His Majesty."

“Even if you want to bring down Yang Shiqi, you should take Ge Song’s memorial and secretly go to the palace to meet the emperor.”

"Instead of letting him speak recklessly in court and lose his life in vain."

"His Majesty's killing of him was, in effect, a stern warning to you..."

At this point, Wang Zuo suddenly seemed to realize something, and his tone abruptly changed: "No, your purpose is not just that. You want to use the pretext of impeaching Yang Shiqi to oppose the new tax reform policy implemented in the Ming Dynasty, don't you?"

He stared wide-eyed at Zhan Hui, his gaze full of inquiry.

Zhan Hui cupped his hands, his expression solemn, and slowly said, "The Zhan family has received the country's favor for generations, and we should swear to repay the court with our lives."

He paused slightly, then continued, "I previously served as the Left Censor-in-Chief for eight years, and now I am honored to serve as a Minister of State Affairs."

"There are always some busybodies in the court who call me the 'leader of the upright officials,' but I am truly ashamed and do not deserve such a title."

"But we scholars, having been immersed in the classics since childhood, should carefully follow the teachings of the sages and never forget our original aspirations."

"Those in high positions should not be idle and should make contributions."

Upon hearing this, Wang Zuo felt a surge of respect and bowed deeply, saying, "Brother Zhan's character is truly admirable."

Immediately afterward, he asked with a hint of nervousness, "Does Your Majesty really intend to implement a new policy of redistributing land and reforming the tax system within the Ming Dynasty?"

Zhan Hui shook his head, a profound and unfathomable expression on his face, and said, "The Emperor's heart is as deep as the sea, and the will of Heaven is unfathomable. How could I possibly know it? I am merely taking precautions in advance."

Wang Zuo's expression turned serious, and he said solemnly, "His Majesty has already issued an edict to limit the proportion of land rent collected, and has also ordered the Great Ming Bank to invest in the large-scale acquisition of land from nobles and wealthy merchants."

"In addition, there are the vassal kings' lands that were recovered after the abolition of the vassal states."

"Now, the imperial court already possesses a large amount of government-owned land."

"If His Majesty wants to implement new tax reforms in the Ming Dynasty, I am not surprised."

"But land is the foundation of the world. If we change the land tax system without authorization, it may cause chaos throughout the land."

Wang Zuo's tone grew increasingly solemn: "Brother Zhan, please rest assured, if His Majesty truly intends to do so, I will certainly join forces with you, Brother Zhan, and all the officials in the court to gather everyone's strength to oppose this policy."

At this point, he frowned, thinking of the articles published in the Da Ming Daily recently that advocated the new policies of the Jurchen Three Ministries, and felt increasingly uneasy.

He then continued, "I will go and gather everyone to discuss this matter. We must do everything we can to stop His Majesty from implementing this new policy in the Ming Dynasty."

Seeing Wang Zuo's hurried and impetuous manner, Zhan Hui quickly grabbed him and said anxiously, "What's the rush?"

He took a deep breath to calm himself down, and then analyzed, "Judging from His Majesty's attitude in court today, it is clear that His Majesty does not want to discuss the new policies at this time."

"This means that, at least in the short term, the new policy will not be implemented in the Ming Dynasty. We can breathe a sigh of relief for now, and this matter can be put to a temporary end."

Wang Zuo stared in astonishment, his eyes wide, and asked incredulously, "Are you just going to leave it like this?"

In his mind, since Zhan Hui had already arranged for Ge Song to remonstrate under the pretext of impeaching Yang Shiqi, and Ge Song had even lost his life because of it, then they should strike while the iron was hot and encourage all the officials to remonstrate together, and do everything they could to stop the possible implementation of the new policies.

At the very least, we must obtain a clear promise from His Majesty. How can we just give up halfway?
This is really illogical.

Zhan Hui remained calm and patiently explained, "We have already probed His Majesty's attitude; he is clearly unwilling to discuss this matter."

"This indicates that the new policy will not be implemented immediately."

Why should we provoke His Majesty at this time?

"Moreover, if we go to gather everyone now, they will still have doubts in their hearts, and it will be difficult for them to work together."

"So, let's wait a little longer."

After hearing this, Wang Zuo fell into deep thought. After a long while, he slowly said, "Since Brother Zhan says to wait, then I will listen to you."

"After all, this matter is of great importance, and we must work together."

At this point, Wang Zuo thought of another person, and his face immediately filled with anger. He said indignantly, "The cause of all this is still that Fang Xiaoru."

"He is promoting so-called Neo-Confucianism, lecturing everywhere, and promoting the idea that 'the way of the sage is for the common good,' blatantly distorting the words of the sage and misleading people."

"It is precisely because of his fallacies and heresies that a large number of scholars were deceived and gave rise to those absurd ideas."

Wang Zuo became more and more excited as he spoke, his chest heaving violently: "I used to think he was a disciple of the great Confucian scholar Song Lian, well-versed in poetry and literature since childhood, honest and kind, a pillar of the court."

"I never imagined he would be a traitor to the Confucian school, causing chaos throughout the land!"

"They keep spouting the words of sages all day long; they're utterly hypocritical!"

"We must find a pretext to imprison him and punish him, and thoroughly eradicate this evil trend."

Zhan Hui stroked his beard, a meaningful smile appearing on his face, and said, "Brother Wang's words have hit the nail on the head."

"We really need to find some influential people to write a few articles to refute Fang Xiaoru's absurd remarks and set the record straight."

Wang Zuo patted his chest and declared confidently, "Leave this to me! I will do my utmost to refute Fang Xiaoru's falsehoods one by one, and then find an opportunity to send him to prison to be punished, so that the whole world will take this as a warning and see who dares to spread such fallacies again."

The two talked as they walked out, and before they knew it, they had left the palace.

They then bowed to each other in farewell, each boarding their sedan chair and heading home.

Unlike Zhan Hui and Wang Zuo, most of the other officials only began to whisper among themselves after leaving the palace and after all the ministers, including Zhan Hui, Wang Zuo, Yang Shiqi, and Yao Guangxiao, had left.

"Do you think His Majesty killed Ge Song today because he talked about irrelevant things during the court assembly and disrupted the order of the assembly?" an official asked cautiously, lowering his voice.

"Irrelevant matter? Impeaching a minister of state is a serious matter, and it is by no means irrelevant no matter when it is mentioned!" Another official said with certainty and decisiveness, "His Majesty is just dissatisfied with Ge Song's impeachment of Yang Shiqi and is looking for an excuse to kill him."

“He can’t blame anyone else,” another official chimed in. “His Majesty has repeatedly warned him to stop talking and submit a memorial for further discussion. But he refused to listen. Such blatant disobedience to His Majesty deserves his execution!”

Some officials couldn't help but sigh: "Even so, this person's character is not bad. He dared to openly remonstrate and impeach a minister in the court. You all usually consider yourselves to be upright and honest, but how many of you have the courage to openly impeach a minister?"

“What do you mean by speaking frankly and daring to remonstrate?” An official immediately jumped out to retort: ​​“I think he was just trying to gain fame. He thought His Majesty wouldn’t kill him, but he ended up losing his life.”

"That's absolutely right!" an official immediately echoed. "If he wasn't trying to gain fame, why didn't he submit a memorial privately or request an audience with the emperor alone? Why did he have to bring it up in public in the court? He's clearly just trying to make a name for himself!" These officials were unwilling to admit that they were cowardly and lacked the courage of the other man, so they desperately tried to belittle his behavior.

Soon, everyone started to speak up, belittling Ge Song to the point of being utterly worthless.

Poor Ge Song, he originally thought that if he succeeded, he could use this opportunity to rise to prominence and achieve great success.

Even if they fail, they can still be remembered in history and have a good reputation for "daring to speak out".

But to his utter surprise, not only did he lose his life in vain, but before his body was even cold, he was already being subjected to a torrent of condemnation.

"So, who do you think is backing Ge Song up today for his remonstrance?" Finally, an official raised this crucial question.

"No need to guess, Ge Song went to Lord Zhan's residence yesterday." A well-informed official revealed, "Ge Song had a long private discussion with Lord Zhan at the Zhan family's residence before leaving."

Everyone suddenly realized what was going on and fell into deep thought.

When Zhan Hui and Yang Shiqi are fighting, whose side should I take?

After a while, someone else said, "Before court today, we talked about how the Duke of Liang implemented new policies in the three Jurchen tribes, which prompted scholars of our Great Ming to write letters of advice. At that time, everyone wanted to ask Lord Zhan to remonstrate with His Majesty. Lord Zhan said that after court, we could visit his residence for a chat. Shall we go now?"

Upon hearing this, the room fell silent. After a long pause, an official finally spoke up: "His Majesty did not allow us to discuss this matter at the court meeting today. In my opinion, the claim that His Majesty intends to implement new policies within the Ming Dynasty is mostly a baseless rumor. Shouldn't we be so alarmed by such unreliable rumors?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than other officials chimed in, "That's absolutely right. If Ge Song had brought this up, His Majesty would have had him killed. If we were to stir up trouble again, we would only be asking for trouble."

The remaining officials echoed this sentiment.

“If Your Majesty truly intends to implement such new policies within the territory of the Ming Dynasty, we will certainly do our utmost to advise you. However, it is simply unreasonable to provoke Your Majesty for something that has not even been proposed yet.”

“That makes sense. We can wait until we have concrete information before we object.”

"Aren't they just a few ignorant scholars who have nothing better to do than write letters to the imperial court? We should just ignore them."

"I think we can arrest a few scholars as an example to warn others, but we don't need to alarm His Majesty."

"At this critical juncture, if we go to Lord Zhan's residence together, His Majesty will likely be furious. It's best not to go; let's all disperse."

The officials chimed in with their opinions, which were mostly similar.

Everyone thought that the imperial court's plans to redistribute land and reform the tax system were just rumors that had come from who-knows-where.

The publication of this story in the Da Ming Daily was merely to publicize the great kindness and virtue that the Ming Dynasty had shown to the three Jurchen tribes.

This is to show that discussing the three Jurchen tribes is the will of Heaven and the will of the people.

To add several layers of legal and reasonable "clothing" to the Ming Dynasty's Northern Expedition.

How can such political propaganda be taken as the basis for the imperial court's reforms within the Ming Dynasty?

His Majesty didn't allow them to discuss this matter, so why make such a fuss?

However, Zhan Hui instructed Ge Song to publicly impeach Yang Shiqi, clearly intending to provoke a "factional struggle".

Going to Zhan Hui's residence at this time would be seen as "Zhan Hui's faction" by Yang Shiqi and others, which would be somewhat like inviting trouble.

In terms of prestige in the court and among the people, Zhan Hui, who had served as an official for many years, was naturally far superior to the young Yang Shiqi.

However, Yang Shiqi was deeply favored by His Majesty and was an old minister from His Majesty's time as a prince.

Judging from His Majesty's execution of Ge Song today, His Majesty's favor towards Yang Shiqi remains unchanged.

On one side were veteran officials with deep roots in two dynasties, and on the other side were newly favored and rising stars.

Without involving their own interests, officials are unwilling to take sides too early.

Otherwise, they might end up like Ge Song.

The big shots are all safe and sound, but I, who was "charging into battle" at the front, am the first to fall and die without a burial place!

Of course, if His Majesty really wanted to implement the new policies, they would all be flocking to Zhan Hui's residence by now.

To put it bluntly, unless something urgent happens or a crisis arises, people aren't in a hurry.

Take a look first, wait a bit, it can't hurt to do something wrong.

Caution is the boat.

This is also an ironclad rule that officials in the imperial court have always followed.

Those who act rashly have long been eliminated.

Soon, the officials ended their discussion, dispersed, and went home.

……

Harem.

The room had a tranquil yet expectant atmosphere.

Old Zhu sat upright in the main seat, his expression calm and confident.

Yoshigaki stood respectfully to the side, his eyes filled with a mixture of doubt and anticipation.

"Today I'll show you that experience counts."

Old Zhu's lips curled up slightly, his tone revealing an undeniable certainty: "That kid does indeed have some skills in governing the country."

"However, some things require more than just intelligence; without the accumulation of experience, they are ultimately difficult to master."

"Back in the day, we almost got killed by..."

At this point, Old Zhu suddenly remembered that he couldn't talk about his own "shameful deeds," so he stopped, coughed twice, and then changed the subject, saying, "In short, our guess is definitely not wrong. This kid will definitely suffer a bloody defeat this time, and it will be difficult for him to clean up the mess."

Yoshigaki smiled slightly and asked tentatively, "Why is the Emperor Emeritus so certain? Will those ministers really unite to oppose Your Majesty's new policies? We haven't heard any rumors about it before."

Old Zhu glanced at him sideways, a hint of meaning in his smile: "Do you really think of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's spies and inspectors as omnipotent gods?"

"Although they have eyes and ears everywhere in the government and the country, apart from a very few people who are being closely watched, whether they can find out what happens to others depends entirely on chance."

"Since we happened to run into each other today, we were able to find out a thing or two."

"If you don't encounter it, you'll gain nothing."

"Jinling City is so large, and the territory of the Ming Dynasty is so vast. How many things happen every day?"

Even if it's important news, it's already quite difficult to find out even one or two tenths of it.

"The rest can mostly be guessed based on experience; it's impossible to know everything."

"We cannot conclude that something will not happen just because we have not found out about it."

"If we act so rashly, we will suffer a great loss sooner or later."

Yoshigaki bowed respectfully, his tone filled with admiration: "The Emperor Emeritus is absolutely right. It seems this servant is doomed to lose this time."

Upon hearing this, Old Zhu laughed heartily: "It's good that you understand. You'd better apologize to us properly in front of all the palace servants later."

He pointed at Yoshigaki: "Let's make this clear first, no backing out."

As the two were chatting and laughing, a mechanical noise suddenly came from inside the room.

A glint of light flashed in Old Zhu's eyes, and he laughed, "It's here, the news has arrived."

He stood up, walked to the wall, and retrieved the intelligence that the Embroidered Uniform Guard spies had delivered that day from a hidden mechanism.

……

(End of this chapter)